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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28211598">A Winter Outing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lait_tea1/pseuds/lait_tea1'>lait_tea1</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Gen, Gift Exchange, Gift Fic, Ice Skating, Snowball Fight, Summoner Secret Santa, feat. a couple of other Heroes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:53:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28211598</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lait_tea1/pseuds/lait_tea1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>At Camilla's insistence, Dash and young Azura go ice-skating. They get caught up in a snowball fight, Xander attempts to make hot chocolate, and it's a beautiful winter day in Askr.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aqua | Azura &amp; Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Marx | Xander &amp; Summoner | Eclat | Kiran</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is for the Summoner Secret Santa gift exchange on Tumblr for @littlemissdash.</p>
<p>I hope you don't mind I combined two of your prompts for this! Thank you so much for the opportunity to write about Summoner Dash – she was really fun to write, alongside her interactions with the other Heroes, and I hope I portrayed her (and the other Heroes!) accurately. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Happy holidays!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The window had frosted over with icy glaze, hardly more than a dusting over the clear glass. Powdered snow settled in a thin layer on the windowsill, and continued to fall over Askr Castle’s garden outside.</p>
<p>In contrast to the peaceful, snowy morning was the inside of the castle. Bustling with warmth and festive cheerfulness, swept in by Heroes wandering throughout the castle with decorations in hand, there was an irreplaceable atmosphere of blissful serenity that warmed the hearts of even the most serious of Heroes.</p>
<p>As for Dash, Askr’s resident summoner, the thrill that came with preparing for the winter festival put an extra bounce in her step. Not even having sprinted through the snow to the wyvern stables with just her usual Summoner’s coat over her shoulders and no additional layers could put a damper on her cheer.</p>
<p>Even Marzipan was extra playful today, apparently having caught on to the contagious joy of the winter festival. She nearly knocked Dash over in the wyvern equivalent of a hug (an affectionate nuzzle with her snout) as soon as she’d opened the doors.</p>
<p>After sneaking Marzipan a turkey leg from her inner pocket (last night’s dinner was whipped up by Oscar, and whatever seasoning he’d used on the turkey was particularly exquisite), Dash bid her wyvern a quick farewell and hurried back outside again.</p>
<p>A quick run later, Dash stumbled back into the castle in a flurry of snow, fingers and face numb and a dusting of snowflakes over her hair.</p>
<p>“Hey!”</p>
<p><i>Ah, bound to get caught eventually.</i> Dash turned, already prepared for a scolding from whichever Hero had caught her running around the snow without even a scarf on, and was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn’t any of the above.</p>
<p>“Oh, Sully! You’re decorating too?”</p>
<p>Sully hefted the end of the pine tree over her shoulder and grinned fiercely. “That’s one part, sure, but I can’t afford to slack off, even during the winter festival. Lugging all this stuff around is pretty good training.”</p>
<p>“Ah, right.” Dash hesitated, sparing a glance between the tree (and the scattering of pine needles all over the floor) and then Sully herself. “I won’t get in the way of your training, but – well, should I be helping out? I should probably be maintaining my training too, even…”</p>
<p>“Nah, don’t worry about it. We can catch up on that together after the celebrations and whatever crap you have to do as the Summoner.” Sully lowered her voice. “Besides, the kid was looking for you just now. At least, I’m guessing – she went off in the direction of your room, so you should probably go figure out what she wants before she wanders off again looking for you.”</p>
<p>“You mean Azura?” At the nod Sully shot her, Dash hummed thoughtfully. “I see, alright. Thanks for telling me.”</p>
<p>“No worries.”</p>
<p>Dash made sure to brush down her coat and shake the snow from her hair (or whatever left of it that hadn’t melted, at least) before heading down the corridor towards the stairs. She’d opted to take a bedroom near the other Heroes’ quarters, so they wouldn’t feel alienated by her presence; and judging from how comfortable even the young Azura had gotten with visiting her room, it was working pretty well.</p>
<p>After ascending up the stairs (sharing greetings with passing Heroes, several who looked like they had just rolled out of bed) and heading down the hallways lined with a multitude of doors that marked the Heroes’ barracks, Dash caught the sight of familiar blue hair peeking out beneath a drape of white fabric.</p>
<p>“Azura!” She called, waving.</p>
<p>“O-oh…” Clearly startled, Azura spun around, eyes wide as a doe’s. “I… I wasn’t…”</p>
<p>Dash smiled warmly as she approached, hoping to put the girl at ease. “Good morning, Azura. How are you?”</p>
<p>“I’m alright…”</p>
<p>“That’s good.” The door Azura had been lingering next to – at least, before Dash had showed up – was her own, so Dash pushed it open (she hadn’t bothered locking it with a key since she hadn’t planned on staying out long anyway) and beckoned with a hand. “Come on in. I think I have… ah, there it is!”</p>
<p>She picked up one of the neatly wrapped candies lying on her desk and handed it to Azura. “Here, have one. Mercedes gave me a couple of these homemade sweets yesterday, but I can’t finish them all myself.”</p>
<p>“I… can?”</p>
<p>“Just don’t eat too many of them, otherwise I’d get scolded again.” Dash chuckled and watched Azura unwrap the shiny foil with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity. “So, did you see the snow outside? Askr’s winters are pretty neat, don’t you think?”</p>
<p>“Mm?” Azura made some kind of indistinguishable noise after popping the candy in her mouth, but her eyes seemed to light up. Dash smiled and glanced out her window at the pale blue sky, hazed over by thick, wispy clouds. “You think so too, huh? Back home, it’d be perfect weather to go to the lake, to skate around a little.”</p>
<p>Azura pondered this for a second, tilting her head to the side thoughtfully.</p>
<p>Dash folded her arms over her chest with a long exhale. “Hm, do you think Askr has ice skates…?” That was directed mostly towards herself, but to her surprise, another voice responded.</p>
<p>“I would be surprised if they didn’t.”</p>
<p>“Ah, Camilla!”</p>
<p>Bundled up in a thick coat over a more casual robe, the Nohrian princess greeted the room’s two inhabitants with a broad smile. “Good morning, you two. I apologise for eavesdropping – I was just passing by and overheard you two, and thought I’d just head over to say good morning. But as I was saying, a little time off wouldn’t hurt. The weather is rather favourable today, and I’m certain there is a frozen lake nearby that would be suitable for skating. But do make sure you wear enough layers, you two. I don’t know what I’d do if you caught a cold, after all.”</p>
<p>“We haven’t actually decided… besides, I still need to finish–”</p>
<p>Camilla waved off Dash’s concerns with a laugh. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about a thing. You deserve a break, and what better than to spend it with little Azura here? I’ll even run through the inventory checks for you today; you’ve been working so hard lately, especially during yesterday’s war council. That speech you made was very impressive, and you even convinced Leo to discard his battle plan entirely in favour of yours.”</p>
<p>“Oh, er…” Dash’s face warmed with embarrassment, and she fiddled with the cuff of her glove. “I mean, the strategy I put forward was mostly Xander’s idea, anyway, since we’ve been working at it for a while now. And I’m sorry to Leo about not using his strategy – he must’ve worked very hard on his plan, and…”</p>
<p>“Please, don’t fret. My little brother wouldn’t get hung up on such trivialities – he can recognise when a plan is better than the other, and he wouldn’t just accept your plan out of pity, would he? I may not be as talented as he is when it comes to tactics, but the strategy you put forward sounded impressive even to me.”</p>
<p>Camilla leaned forwards, lips curving upwards in amusement. “And there’s no need to be so humble, Dash. Xander told me the plan was mainly your idea; he’d only offered some advice and refined it a little, he said.”</p>
<p>“Well…”</p>
<p>Camilla shook her head and waved off whatever Dash was about to say. “Oh, what am I doing? I was encouraging you to relax, and here I am talking to you about more work! I’m sure little Azura’s keen to head out and enjoy the snow, isn’t she?”</p>
<p>“I’m…” Instead of saying anything, Azura puffed out her cheeks and stared pointedly at the corner of Dash’s room. Camilla laughed and patted her head. “A snow day like this doesn’t happen every day. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about wanting to go out and explore, dear.”</p>
<p>Camilla met Dash’s gaze. “Oh, but in that case, you two need to be bundled up before you even think about stepping foot outside! I’ll get Azura sorted in a moment – but Dash, allow me…”</p>
<p>“Wait a–” Before Dash could protest any further, Camilla swept into her room, opened the closet and began rummaging through. “Oh, this is all quite… last year’s fashion, don’t you think? Hm, and we need a hat, definitely… do you even own any hats?”</p>
<p>“Hey, I think last year’s coat is perfectly fine…”</p>
<p>Camilla tsked and fished out something from the back of the closet. “Ah, so you do own something colourful. This’ll have to do for now, but we’ll be visiting the castle town soon to get you some new winter clothes, yes? And don’t worry your precious little head about it, dear. I’ll be right by your side to ensure you pick out something that’ll suit you perfectly and last for the next few winters…”</p>
<p>Dash blinked as Camilla thrust the coat into her arms. “I guess I could replace a couple of my older clothes… they have gotten a little worn out over the years.”</p>
<p>“Of course.” Camilla gave her closet a final scrutinising gaze and turned around to face the two of them. “I’ll even lend you one of my hats, since we can’t have your head getting cold out there. Oh, and Azura, I’ll fetch you a coat and some warm boots too, just give me a moment…”</p>
<p>Camilla had disappeared out the door again before either of them could say another word.</p>
<p>“…well,” Dash said, looking down at Azura. “I guess we’re going ice skating today.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>-x-x-x-</p>
</div>Stepping out into the snow in proper – and thankfully warm – winter gear was a lot more enjoyable than without, Dash had to admit. Plus, with the glittering tinsel someone had strewn over the pillars outside, the strings of holly and the flickering candles, enchanted by the castle’s mages to stay alight even in the briskest of winds, the festive atmosphere continued to follow them out into the Askran snow.<p>With ice skates in hand – Alfonse had graciously pointed them to a storage room where they stored everything in preparation for the winter festival, which included everything from decorations to sleds and, of course, ice skates – Dash led Azura down the snow-dusted path towards the nearby frozen lake.</p>
<p>“Have you ever skated before?” Dash asked.</p>
<p>“Um… no, I haven’t.”</p>
<p>“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ll teach you – at least, as much as I can, haha.” Dash waved at Stahl, who was coming up the path they were walking down. “Good morning!”</p>
<p>“Oh, hey, Dash. Er, you… are you looking for something?”</p>
<p>Dash cocked her head. “Well, not exactly ‘looking for’ – Azura and I were just about to head down to the lake. At least, I was told there’s a lake down there for skating…”</p>
<p>“The lake…? Oh! That lake!” Stahl clasped his gloved hands together and beamed. “Yeah, it looks like a pretty good spot for that, huh? You might want to watch out for the manaketes, though; I think a couple of them went down that way to play. But it’s a pretty big space, so it’s probably not a big deal.”</p>
<p>“Thanks for telling us – I’ll keep an eye out for them.” Dash glanced at the pouch Stahl had tucked under an arm, then back to Stahl again. “Were you down there just now?”</p>
<p>“Oh, how did you know? …actually, wait, the lake’s the only thing this path leads towards, heh… um, don’t mind me.” Stahl chuckled sheepishly and fumbled with his pouch. “I was just down there to pick some of the evergreen shoots down there, that’s all. They make a pretty good tonic for colds, so I thought I might stock up on some in case people get sick.”</p>
<p>“That’s very kind of you, Stahl. I’m sure whoever needs it will appreciate it.” Dash paused as Azura tugged on her sleeve. “Ah, I shouldn’t hold you up too long – you probably have places to be going, and we were just about to head down to the lake anyway.”</p>
<p>“Of course – have fun down there.” Stahl smiled. “But do take care of yourselves, and try not to catch a cold, alright? See you later!”</p>
<p>Stahl’s well wishes in mind, they followed the path down to the lake. Azura stuck to Dash’s side as they ascended the gentle slope. At the top, they were greeted with quite the sight: a wide expanse of deep blue ice, reflecting the pale sky above, stretching out to the blur of trees out in the distance.</p>
<p>“That’s…”</p>
<p>“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Dash smiled comfortingly down at Azura, who seemed to be enthralled by the sight. And who wouldn’t be – the sky a washed out blue, like the subtle brush of watercolour over paper, reflected down onto ice dusted with powdered snow. The scene itself was untouched, delicate; save for the string of lustrous, red and green baubles that twinkled playfully from where they had been hung up by the wooden benches next to the lake.</p>
<p>“It’s… very pretty.” Azura admitted, voice hushed. “Back – back in Nohr… the winter… it was never this nice…”</p>
<p>Dash wrapped her hand around Azura’s. “But we’re here in Askr now – let’s not linger on the past now. Let’s enjoy today, shall we?”</p>
<p>At Azura’s silent nod, they made their way down the path to the benches overlooking the lake. Dash helped tug off Azura’s boots and slide on her ice skates, kneeling down next to the younger girl to make sure her shoelaces were firmly knotted. Then she kicked off her own boots and made quick work of her own ice skates.</p>
<p>“Whoa, be careful!” Dash caught Azura’s arm before she tripped and helped her sit back down on the bench again. “The skates take a little time getting used to, so take your time.”</p>
<p>“I’m… I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, we have all the time in the world.” Dash reassured. “Here, do you want to try again?”</p>
<p>Sticking out her lower lip in concentration, Azura wobbled back to her feet. Dash made sure to hold on to her arm until she was certain that Azura had regained her balance, then tentatively let go.</p>
<p>She beamed. “See, you’re getting the hang of it already! You’re a natural!”</p>
<p>Azura’s cheeks turned pink, but she seemed to hold herself a little taller at the praise. “I think… I think I’ve kind of got it. Can we… can we go on the ice now?”</p>
<p>“Of course.” Dash took Azura’s arm again. “But it’s slippery, so you need to be extra careful, alright? I’ll be right here if you need me.”</p>
<p>“Mhm…”</p>
<p>They made their way to the lakeshore. The water had frozen over, and over top of that was a fine dusting of white snow. Dash kept a firm grip on Azura as they took their first step onto the lake.</p>
<p>“You can’t quite walk on ice like you do on land.” Dash explained. “Here, I’ll show you how to skate – just keep your feet still, like this, and bend your knees a little – let me…”</p>
<p>Azura obediently did as asked. Dash shuffled back, so she was facing Azura and her back facing the lake, and took Azura’s hands in her own.</p>
<p><i>I haven’t skated in a while, so hopefully I don’t fall over too…</i> Putting her worries aside, Dash took a cautious step back, then another.</p>
<p>The familiar movements came back rather quickly. Still taking care not to trip and fall, Dash pulled Azura with her, right foot coming back, then the left foot, as she guided Azura over the ice.</p>
<p>“Whoa…” Azura murmured, her breath coming out in a wispy cloud. Dash smiled back, taking them in a curving arc before turning her heels and slowing down.</p>
<p>“Alright.” Dash said just a little breathlessly, still keeping a hand on Azura’s arm. “What you want to do is bend your knees a little, like how you were doing earlier, to keep balance. Instead of walking, since you can’t really do that on ice, you want to put one foot in front of the other, and push off…”</p>
<p>“Um… like this?” Azura hesitated. “Er, it feels strange… they’re kind of heavy.”</p>
<p>“The skates are like that at first, but you’ll get used to it if you practice.” Dash dug the spiked toes of her ice skates into the ice to keep herself from sliding away, then demonstrated lifting a foot. “You don’t have to lift your foot up too high; just enough so that it’s a little bit above the ice. Then you push off from your toe, using the spikes here…”</p>
<p>“Spikes…? Aren’t those dangerous…?”</p>
<p>“They help us slow down and keep control. But you should keep them in mind because when you do fall, you don’t want to accidentally cut your fingers.</p>
<p>“…fall?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, ice skating’s like that.” Dash met Azura’s gaze. “But you shouldn’t be afraid of falling – it’s just part of the process, and even people who’ve skated for years fall from time to time. You just need to make sure you don’t hurt yourself when you do fall, then get up again and keep going.”</p>
<p>Azura puffed up her cheeks and stared down at the ground in front of her, a glimmer of determination in her amber eyes.</p>
<p>“Here, I’ll accompany you.” Dash grasped Azura’s hand comfortingly as she made her way around to stand by her side. “Lift one foot, and push off from your toe on the other foot…”</p>
<p>Azura’s first step was unsteady, and she teetered from side to side like a newborn fawn, but Dash made sure to keep a secure grip on her arm. The next step, they glided forwards with a little more grace, then – moving in unison, Dash making sure to keep her strides in line with Azura’s, they were slowly but surely skating across the frozen lake’s surface.</p>
<p>“See, you’re doing it!” Dash beamed. Azura hummed back in response, thrumming with a muted, unspoken joy – but Dash could tell she was rather pleased with herself.</p>
<p>“I’ll let go of your arm now, alright? And you just keep doing what you’re doing – ah, make sure to bend your knees a little…” At Azura’s resolute nod, Dash finally uncurled her fingers from Azura’s arm and swerved slightly to the right to give her some space.</p>
<p>Azura wobbled again, then regained her balance. She even extended her arms out, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she tilted her head back to gaze up at the sky.</p>
<p>“This is… quite nice.” Azura said softly.</p>
<p>“Yeah, it’s been so long since I’ve properly skated. I’ve forgotten how relaxing this can be.” Dash looked up at the sky too, taking in a deep breath of wintry air–</p>
<p>“Oof–!” Her moment of peace was cut off by a yelp as her own feet gave out beneath her and she tripped on air, momentum sending her skidding a couple of meters across the ice. Azura gasped and took a step forwards, but appeared to forget that she was standing on ice, because she too slipped backwards and fell on her rear.</p>
<p>“Azura! Are you alright?”</p>
<p>“Mhm… I’m fine.” Azura lifted her head and stared at Dash, still seated on the ice. Then, to Dash’s surprise – the usually reserved girl began to giggle softly.</p>
<p>Despite herself, Dash chuckled along too. “Yeah, I’m not the best teacher for this, it seems. But at least it just proves my point, huh? And falling isn’t that scary after all.”</p>
<p>“Hehe… I guess so…”</p>
<p>“Well, next lesson, then – getting up.” Dash heaved an overdramatic sigh and looked down at the ice. “I have to admit, this is my least favourite part, mainly because I’m not very good at this. Can’t sit around on the ice forever, though – so here goes nothing…!”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>-x-x-x-</p>
</div>They – well, Dash, mostly – spent the next couple of minutes struggling to stand up on the ice without slipping and landing on their face again. Even if it might’ve bruised her body – and her self-esteem, somewhat, to see Azura laughing at her predicament – it was still rather nice to see Azura actually enjoying herself, so Dash took it good-naturedly and even laughed along too.<p>They spent what felt like minutes but could’ve very well been another hour simply sliding around the ice, occasionally falling and struggling to get up, and just enjoying the peace and quiet. Azura giggled again when she pointed out the smudges in the layer of powdered snow where they had fallen and slid around helplessly on the ice trying to get up, then they spent the next twenty minutes following their trail through the snow-dusted ice back to where they started.</p>
<p>Azura had picked up the art rather quickly, Dash noted with a hint of pride – she was gliding along the ice as gracefully as a swan. Azura’s hair had come undone in the breeze that had picked up, windswept blue strands fluttering behind her; there was something endearing about her messy hair which reminded her of time she had lost her usual hat… though that was a memory Azura probably wouldn’t be as pleased to reminiscence about.</p>
<p>As if reading her thoughts, Azura looked up and cocked her head curiously. “Is something the matter?”</p>
<p>“No, nothing,” Dash shook her head. “I was just thinking.”</p>
<p>“Mm… okay.” Azura fell silent again, looking almost pensive.</p>
<p>“Is there something <i>you</i> wanted to say?”</p>
<p>“Um...” Azura balked at this, chewing on her lower lip and glancing off to the side. Dash hummed and set a reassuring hand on her shoulder, slowing her strides to match the younger girl’s.</p>
<p>“It’s just… I was thinking… Why are you so nice to me?” Azura looked up, her lower lip trembling. “People never want to see me, or be around me. But you…”</p>
<p>“Why?” Dash couldn’t help but laugh out loud in astonishment. Azura flinched, but Dash quickly reassured her with a gentle pat on the head. “Oh, I’m not laughing at you. I thought… it was something that you already knew, that’s all. It’s because I want to spend time with you, Azura - especially during the winter festival, which is all about spending time with your friends and family, giving gifts…”</p>
<p>Dash slowed down, turning on the ice to grasp Azura’s hands in her own. “And you shouldn’t have to worry about such things here in Askr. Everyone here – we’re happy that you’re here, that we see you around every day. We’re very glad to have you here with us.”</p>
<p>Azura’s cheeks flushed pink. “Um… you… you <i>want</i> me to spend time with you?”</p>
<p>“Of course. I enjoyed today, being able to go ice-skating with you.” Dash said. “Besides, if you’re still worrying about that – we’re friends, and friends help each other, don’t they? I taught you the basics of ice-skating, and you’ve shown me how fun ice-skating can be. That’s reason enough to spend time with each other, if we even needed a reason at all.”</p>
<p>Azura was quiet for a long moment.</p>
<p>“That… does sound nice…” Azura mouthed the words to herself, the corners of her lips tugging up into a secretive smile. “I had fun too… I’m – I’m happy, today…”</p>
<p>“That’s good.” Dash smiled back. “What do you say about going out ice skating another day? We should probably be heading back soon, but we have all of winter to find another time to go skating here again.”</p>
<p>“I’d… like that a lot…”</p>
<p>“Then it’s settled!” Dash took Azura’s hand. They were approaching the lakeshore anyway, where they had left their boots under the benches, so she slowed down, tugging Azura to a halt as she did so. “Maybe we can store these ice stakes somewhere; I’m sure Alfonse has somewhere we can put them.”</p>
<p>They shuffled their way back to the snowy ground. Azura waddled over to the bench and sat down at once, extending her feet out in front of herself with a relieved exhale. “Oh… that was tiring…”</p>
<p>“Sure is, but you don’t notice it while you’re having fun, huh?” Dash tugged off her shoelaces and kicked the ice skates to the side, sighing in relief at finally being able to slide her warm, cozy boots back on. She quickly knelt and helped Azura untie her other ice skate, then fetched Azura’s boots from underneath the bench as well.</p>
<p>Dash rose to her feet. “So, if that’s everything, let’s go back to the dining hall early to grab a hot serving of lunch.” It’ll be the perfect thing to warm–”</p>
<p>A snowball whistled through the air and clocked her in the side of the head.</p>
<p>“Sorry!” Someone yelled.</p>
<p>“You just <i>hit</i> the summoner, Nowi!”</p>
<p>“I did?! Oh no, I’m so sorry!”</p>
<p>Dash shook out her hair and sneezed, blowing stray snow particles off her face. “It’s fine,” she called back, waving in the general direction of where the snowball came from. Then she shaded her eyes and squinted again. “What’s going on?”</p>
<p>“Snowball fight!”</p>
<p>Dash yelped as Nino popped out of seemingly nowhere with a snowball in hand. “Whoa, where did you come from?”</p>
<p>The green-haired mage giggled. “Oh, I was here the whole time! I was sneaking around, like how Jaffar taught me to!”</p>
<p>Then Nino’s eyes lit up and she immediately started bouncing from foot to foot. “Dash! You should join us against Nowi and her team! We need all the help we can get to win, and–” She lowered her voice, though it was more of a whispered shout than anything. “–they don’t know this, but we have the advantage! We can be stealthy, and then ambush them when they least expect it!”</p>
<p>Nowi, Tiki and Fae bounded up to them, finally having floundered through the snowdrift to reach them.</p>
<p>“What are you talking about?” Nowi chirped.</p>
<p>“Hey!” Nino jumped, then pouted. “It’s not nice to listen in when people are talking. We were having a tactical meeting!”</p>
<p>“Ooh, tactical meeting? Can Fae join?”</p>
<p>“But you’re on the other team!”</p>
<p>As if suddenly realising Azura’s presence, Nino spun around to face the blue-haired girl. “Oh, Azura! You should join us too! Right now, it’s just me, Jaffar, Marth – oh, Miss Elice is somewhere here too, but I don’t think she's playing… but you should play too! It’s loads of fun!”</p>
<p>“Um…” Azura blinked, her eyes wide. “Me…?”</p>
<p>“Yeah!”</p>
<p>“Hey, why do you get to have her on your team?” Nowi huffed. Suddenly, her eyes lit up as well, and she grabbed Azura by the shoulders. “Hey, you should join our team instead! You haven’t decided, right? I think you should join our team, since we’re obviously on the winning side.”</p>
<p>“Right, right, let’s try not to overwhelm her here.” Dash waved the two girls off before they could continue. “Give Azura a little space, alright?”</p>
<p>“Oh… sorry.”</p>
<p>“Okay, first… we did just get back from ice skating, so…” Dash glanced down at Azura. “Do you want to play, or do you want to head back to take a break?”</p>
<p>“Mm…” Azura scuffed the toe of her boot in the snow. “Well… I… I don’t mind… but – will… will you…?”</p>
<p>“You want me to join you?”</p>
<p>Azura nodded.</p>
<p>“Well, in that case!” Tiki exclaimed, already floundering through the snow back in the direction they had come from. “Count to thirty so we can restart the game! Come on, let’s get back to our fort!”</p>
<p>“Thirty seconds? No, that’s way too little! They should count to… uh… one million!”</p>
<p>Fae giggled and followed the other two manakete girls.</p>
<p>“Guess they forgot about the recruitment campaign, huh.” Dash mumbled to herself, tone light with amusement.</p>
<p>“Then Dash, Azura – you’re both on my team!” Nino scooped up a handful of snow to replace the one that had melted away in her hand during their conversation. “Okay! I already have a plan… we’re going to, um, to go around them, all the way to that tree there…”</p>
<p>Azura straightened up, a determined look crossing her face. Dash smiled and listened attentively to Nino’s briefing as well, happy to play along for time being.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>-x-x-x-</p>
</div>“Hey, watch out, don’t slip – oof!” In midst of reaching out to try and call for the young Marth to slow down, Dash was tackled into the snow by a half-transformed Nowi, who had thankfully been going from her dragon form to her human form when she landed on the hapless summoner.<p>“Attack!” Kana chirped. Fae flung herself onto the summoner with a giggle, wrapping her tiny hands around Dash’s arm. “Fae’s got you!”</p>
<p>“Hey, back off…!” Azura’s quiet whisper was the complete opposite to the ferocity (at least, for a small child) of her snowball throwing. Kana and Nowi scattered with a squeal, and Fae rolled off Dash and into the snow.</p>
<p>“Hah… a break, please.” Dash was content to lie in the snow for a long moment, taking deep gulps of frosty air. It chilled her throat but in a pleasant way, especially after how much running (or mostly, floundering) she had just done through the snow while trying to evade the manaketes’ snowball assault.</p>
<p>Nearby, Elice – dressed in a festive red and white gown – hummed with amusement. “Keeping up with the little ones’ energy is certainly taxing, isn’t it?”</p>
<p>“Yeah… I don’t know where they get it from.”</p>
<p>Azura plopped down in the snow next to Dash, clutching her snowball protectively. Dash laughed breathlessly. “Hah… thanks for chasing them off, Azura.”</p>
<p>“Mm…”</p>
<p>“I don’t know how they roped up so many people into their snowball fight as well.” Merric added. He had joined Elice in watching over the younger Heroes, and was currently brushing off the snow from the young Marth’s coat. He turned his head to where the manaketes had run off to chuck snowballs at Selkie (who was clearly enjoying the snowball fight) and Boey (who didn’t seem quite as joyful, and was shrieking something unintelligible at Mae – who had even joined the manaketes’ side).</p>
<p>A multitude of other Heroes had joined the snowball fight too, one way or another, and had even started their own battles elsewhere in the snow. It was quite heartwarming to see Fodlan’s students from all three houses bonding over hurling snowballs at each other, though the vicious game of ‘capture the flag’ amidst the recently constructed snow forts that had started up between the Greil Mercenaries and the Shepherds looked a little worrisome, to say the least (at least the respective tacticians of both teams seemed to be… having fun, if that could even be said of Soren).</p>
<p>“It’s nice seeing everyone mingling together and having fun… it’s not every day we get to see everyone just relaxing and hanging out.” Dash remarked, finally mustering the energy to sit up. She ducked as a snowball whipped over her head and disintegrate in the snow in an explosion of powder.</p>
<p>Seliph stumbled past them, yelling an apology that was immediately muffled by him promptly tripping and falling face first in the snow. Ares seized the opportunity to throw a mound of snow on him.</p>
<p>Dash snickered at the sight.</p>
<p>“Yes, quite so.” Elice said warmly, stifling her own chuckles. “Especially you, Dash. I think seeing their Summoner also taking time off to enjoy the winter festival has encouraged many Heroes to enjoy a piece of childhood that they might never have gotten to have in their own worlds. It’s quite wonderful, actually, that being in Askr allows for such possibilities.”</p>
<p>“Yeah…” Dash sighed, a cloud of fog accompanying her exhale, and glanced over at Azura.</p>
<p>“…hm?” Azura turned, still sitting in the snow.</p>
<p>“No, it’s nothing.” Dash smiled reassuringly back.</p>
<p>Azura paused. Her expression twisted, then her nose scrunched up. “Ah… achoo!”</p>
<p>“Oh, we’ve spent quite some time out here, haven’t we?” Dash stood up, dusting her own clothes off. She took Azura’s hand and helped her to her feet. “We should probably head back and warm up, then. And we haven’t even had lunch yet…!”</p>
<p>Azura managed to make out a nod of agreement in between another sneeze.</p>
<p>“In that case, we’ll see you later around the castle.” Elice smiled. “Make sure to warm up, you two. You don’t want to be catching a cold amidst tonight’s winter festivities.”</p>
<p>“Alright, we will. We’ll be seeing you at the festival too!” </p>
<p>Dash turned back to Azura. “Let’s go back, shall we?”</p>
<p>“…mhm.”</p>
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<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Most of the Heroes had already finished lunch, it seemed, and they ran into a couple that were walking down towards the lake (either to join in with the snowball war, it seemed, or just to ‘see what kind of ridiculous things are going on, and obviously <i>not</i> join them’ – though Leo’s scowl wouldn’t fool anybody). Most of the adrenaline had left their snowball-battered bodies at this point, so stumbling back into the castle through the massive doors and being hit by a wave of warm air was a blessing.</p><p>To their surprise, they were almost immediately intercepted by Camilla.</p><p>“i’ve been wondering how long it would take you two to come back – oh my, your hands are freezing!”</p><p>“Er, good…” Dash spared a glance at the clock hanging on the wall, but it was obscured by a large pine tree. “–afternoon, Camilla. Oh, thank you for lending me your hat – wait, I should probably wash this first, shouldn’t I?”</p><p>“You don’t have to worry about a thing.” Camilla took the offered hat, though, and tucked it under an arm. “Now – Azura, how about you come with me? We’ll get you warmed up in no time! Oh, and Dash… Xander’s been waiting quite patiently for you to return. He’s been asking around for where you were… I suppose he was worried, yes?”</p><p>At Camilla’s playful wink, Dash felt her face warm. “It’s really not…”</p><p>Camilla laughed. “Of course, of course. Well, you shouldn’t keep him waiting. He asked me to tell you that he’s waiting ‘where you two usually meet up’… I’m sure you know what he means.”</p><p>With a gentle smile, Camilla extended a hand towards Azura, who was still clinging to Dash’s side. “Alright, Azura – let’s go to your room first, shall we? We’ll get you into something that isn’t covered with snow, then we can go get lunch together.”</p><p>“Ah…” Azura paused, then looked up wide-eyed at Dash. “Um…”</p><p>“What is it?” Dash asked.</p><p>Azura chewed on her lower lip, looking almost bashful. “Um… thank you… thank you for spending time with me today. I – I really enjoyed it…”</p><p>Dash smiled back. “I enjoyed spending today with you, too. Let’s go ice skating again next time, alright?”</p><p>“I’d… like that a lot…”</p><p>Camilla hummed with delight. “See? I knew this was a good idea for the both of you. Well, next time you want to go out to ice skate, I wouldn’t mind taking over your jobs again, Dash; you know you can ask anything of me.”</p><p>“Thank you, Camilla. I really do appreciate it.”</p><p>Camilla waved her off. “I’m just doing what I can, dear. Now, I won’t hold you back any longer – you’d better get going.”</p><p>Dash bid the two a farewell and hurried up the stairs.</p><p>For a place ‘they usually met up at’… there really were only a few options, and only one that stood out to her. She jogged up the last flight of stairs, turned the corner and headed straight for the door closest to her on the left…</p><p>“Hm? Ah, Dash, you’re finally here.” Xander had been resting comfortably in one of the chairs in the centre of the common room – which was devoid of other Heroes, for once – but he rose to his feet as Dash pushed open the door.</p><p>“I was wondering when you would show up.” There was a note of amusement in Xander’s voice; despite his words, he didn’t sound particularly irritated about how long it took her to arrive. “Here, allow me to take your coat.”</p><p>Dash was glad to shrug off the thick layers at once to bask in the warmth of the room; the fireplace looked like it had been recently lit, and was radiating a pleasant yet not overwhelming heat.</p><p>Xander took her coat – ever the gentleman – and hung it on the empty coat rack by the door. Then he beckoned her to sit in the other plush chair across from where he had been previously sitting.</p><p>“Camilla said you were waiting for me. Is it something about yesterday’s battle plan again?”</p><p>Instead of answering, Xander gestured at the cups sitting delicately on the low set mahogany table in front of them.</p><p>“Oh? This is…?”</p><p>“You said you were fond of a drink called hot chocolate, and that in your home world, you used to accompany such drinks with… whipped cream. So I thought this might be something you would like.”</p><p>“Of course.” Dash tried to hide the mirth in her voice as she cradled one of the cups in her hands. There was something particular about the odd mismatch of the elegant porcelain tea cup against what appeared to be homemade hot chocolate (which did smell divine, she had to admit). And the whipped cream was… in a completely separate dish – there was, quite literally, two bowls of whipped cream set out on the table, and a teaspoon next to each bowl.</p><p>In short, it looked like he had put together what he presumed was hot chocolate while not actually knowing exactly how hot chocolate was meant to look… which was probably what had happened.</p><p>Xander seemed to take her amusement as ridicule and let out a quiet huff of indignation. “I thought that you would appreciate something to remind you of your home, since you have expressed worries about such things…”</p><p>“No, no! That’s not–” Dash shook her head and examined the drink again. While it was… odd, at best – the dainty teacup paired with the hot chocolate, and never mind the literal bowl of whipped cream – his efforts were… rather heartwarming, actually. Especially because it was rather obvious he had made it himself, from the way his gaze lingered on her as she lifted the cup to her lips.</p><p>Then she paused. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘expressed worries about such things’? I’ve never said anything…”</p><p>“I took a guess, based on what you have said in the past.” He explained. “Besides, the winter festival is often a time of gathering with family. I may be lucky to have my own family here to spend the winter festival with, but… I have never heard of a Hero summoned from the world you were from, so Camilla suggested you might have felt lonely. And I suppose I made assumptions from there… though I do apologise if I’ve read it wrong – it only just came to mind that this could have all been my own baseless conjecture.”</p><p>“That’s…” Dash let out a long exhale through the steam rising from her cup, feeling her cheeks flush – and not just from the heat of the drink. “Well, you’re not completely right, but not completely wrong…”</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>“It’s not lonely here in Askr. With so many Heroes I am grateful to call my friends… and with people so thoughtful and kind such as you, I don’t think I could ever feel lonely in Askr.”</p><p>She could see him open his mouth to protest, but she quickly continued: “Like, you’ve already shown me; not everyone would go out of their way to make something like homemade hot chocolate just because they were worried I felt lonely, or homesick, and because I’ve mentioned once that I had some back at home.”</p><p>Xander contemplated this for a long moment.</p><p>“Wait. What made you think I made…”</p><p>Dash burst into laughter at the almost offended expression on his face, and had to lower her cup to keep from spilling the drink. “Oh, you. There you go again, trying to hide the fact you’re trying to do something nice for someone. Who else would’ve made this, anyway?”</p><p>Xander’s face seemed to redden, though it was hard to tell in the flickering light of the fireplace.</p><p>“I don’t know how you can be so smart but so… well, not.” Finally steadying her hands, Dash took a sip of the hot chocolate. Despite its odd appearance, it tasted exactly like home; grainy lumps of not-fully-mixed chocolate and everything.</p><p>Xander cleared his throat again, regaining his composure remarkably quickly. “Ah, the whipped cream…”</p><p>“Oh, and that, by the way,” Dash said with a teasing note, taking a spoonful of the cream from the bowl anyway, “The whipped cream actually goes in the drink first; we don’t literally eat the cream out of a bowl.”</p><p>“…I see.”</p><p>“I appreciate the thought, though,” Dash smiled broadly, dipping the spoon into her cup. “I… I really do appreciate that you’ve thought of me. And it does taste exactly like home…”</p><p>“So… it was homesickness, then, not loneliness?”</p><p>“Hm.” She tapped the spoon against the inside of the cup as she pondered. It clinked quietly, melodically – a soft, metallic chime that almost sounded like a bell. “Well… I’ve never had to put it in words, really… I guess sometimes I feel a little out of place here, you know? That… that I don’t really belong here, in this place – that it’s not really home, if you know what I mean. Especially since it’s just me here from, well, my… home world, I guess.”</p><p>“I… I cannot say I understand, for my experiences are not the same as yours, but… I can empathise.” Xander said quietly.</p><p>“Yeah, I guess… it’s just that. I mean, the Heroes are just so welcoming, and being with them is like being with a family that I never knew, but… Askr itself… I just feel like it’s not really my place to call it a home.”</p><p>Xander pondered her words for a long moment. Finally, he lifted his eyes from his untouched cup and spoke. “I do not know if my words can reassure you, but… in my eyes, I believe it is your presence that makes Askr a home to everyone else. Even though we all come from different worlds, and it is true we feel more at ease surrounded by familiar faces… it is your presence that ties us all together, and ties us to Askr. Askr is as much a home to me as Nohr because you are here, as both the one who summoned me here and someone who I can trust.”</p><p>There was something so fiercely intense and sincere in his eyes that it silenced any of the responses she might have come up with in any other time.</p><p>Dash stirred her drink slowly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “I guess… it does kind of make sense.”</p><p>“In that case… if there is anything else I – or we – could do to make you feel more at home here… then do speak up.” Xander looked her in the eye, lips thinning into a determined frown (probably without him realising it). “We have you to thank for making Askr a place we can call home, so it is only proper that we do something for you to make you feel more comfortable here.”</p><p>Dash chuckled at that, finally letting her shoulders relax and her tension seep out in a long exhale. “I’ll take you up on that offer if I can think of something, then. But really… this – and everything you’ve done for me – is enough.”</p><p>With that conversation settled, Xander seemed to relax too. He added a spoonful of whipped cream to his cup, in imitation of what Dash had done, and stirred carefully.</p><p>His eyes flitted to her cup again, then to his own. “Is it to your satisfaction?”</p><p>“Well, aside from the…” Dash debated telling him about the fact that hot chocolate usually did not go in delicate porcelain tableware as well, but decided not to. There was something endearing about it anyway – about the fact he had tried his best to put together something she had maybe mentioned once or twice only using what little information she had spoken about. “Aside from the bowls of whipped cream – I’m still not sure what to do with all of it, actually – I think it’s perfect. It really does feel like something I would make and drink back at home.”</p><p>Instead of answering, Xander finally took a sip of his hot chocolate concoction. His expression immediately twisted into a grimace. “Oh. It’s… very sweet.”</p><p>Dash stifled another bout of laughter. “Well, what did you expect? You’re literally putting chocolate and whipped cream into a drink – both of which are incredibly sweet on their own, never mind together.” She snickered. “I was wondering why you’d made some for yourself too – I never thought you were one for sweets.”</p><p>“Hmph.” Instead of answering, Xander went back to stirring his cup idly. <i>Probably trying to put off drinking it.</i> Dash thought with a chuckle.</p><p>“Though…” Xander said quietly, after a long moment of silence, “I wouldn’t be so confident in my deduction abilities if I were you, Dash. Wasn’t it then, a couple of weeks after we first met, where you attempted to take on those Emblian soldiers by threatening them with Breidablik, despite the fact you knew that Breidablik’s only purpose at the time was to summon Heroes?”</p><p>“Hey, it worked, though! They ran away because they were afraid of me!”</p><p>“I don’t think either of you knew what you were doing at the time… if they were smarter, they could have just cut you down there and Breidablik wouldn’t have done a thing, unless you planned on throwing it at them like a hand axe.”</p><p>Dash pouted, but Xander continued to talk.</p><p>“Ah, and I cannot forget: the time I was helping you with your swordplay, and then the next day you snapped half a day’s worth of training weapons because you were trying to spar with a tree… a tree!– when nearly any Hero would have made a perfectly good sparring partner.”</p><p>“There were little kids here who could literally fight better than me – I’m not going to try to make a fool of myself in the sparring grounds, especially back then!”</p><p>“And just the other day…”</p><p>“Fine, I get it, I don’t think things through sometimes…!”</p><p>“Even when you’re perfectly component at your job as tactician and summoner, which also involves quite a lot of thinking.”</p><p>Dash glared at him. Xander smiled back – just the faintest quirk of the lips upwards to indicate he was still teasing.</p><p>She huffed indignantly and put another spoonful of whipped cream into her cup. “You act so serious all the time, but it’s just a guise to hide the fact you <i>like</i> making fun of me, don’t you?”</p><p>“For being Askr’s Legendary Summoner, who clearly has many, much more important duties to attend to each day, you do like finding the time to poke fun at me too.” Xander replied evenly.</p><p>Dash rolled her eyes, but smiled back. “Well, what can I say? Being able to just relax and chat like this is nice, sometimes. Besides…”</p><p>She looked around the room. There was no paperwork in sight: no battle plans spread across the table like she had expected, or books about tactics for another lecture. “Did you call me here just to sit around and drink hot chocolate? That’s not like you – I would’ve thought you’d have some more work for us to get through today.”</p><p>Xander made a huffing sound that was half a scoff and half a noise of amusement. “I’m just taking a page from your book, Dash. Aren’t you the one always insisting we take the time to just sit and enjoy the smaller picture?”</p><p>“Ha… well, can’t complain about that.” Dash leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, letting the scent of toasted cocoa beans and the sound of the crackle of wood in the fireplace envelop her. And just outside, through the window, she could almost hear the silvery tinkling of bells from where decorations were being strung up outside.</p><p>There was a lightness in her heart: the chill of a wintry day being staved off by the glow of warmth from the fireplace, Xander’s presence – comforting and familiar – at her side, and of course, the festive cheer filling the castle. From the glittering tinsel strewn haphazardly over the bookshelves or the charming little pine tree set up in the corner, to the chiming of bells outside and the gentle snowfall just outside the window, covering Askr in a blanket of snow…</p><p><i>Perhaps,</i> Dash mused, staring down at her reflection in the rippling surface of what was left of her hot chocolate. <i>Perhaps it’s not quite so hard to find my place here in Askr, after all…</i></p>
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